I recently went into the hospital for back surgery. While I was there I was asked if my blood sugar is always high. I responded that I have never heard that in my life. They decided to do an A1C while I was there and came back and said it was 13.1!! That I was running between 400-500 Blood sugar a day. I was released and told to see my primary doctor immediately. She put me on Metformin 500 mg twice a day and said to watch what I ate and excercise. It didn’t seem like a big deal. Theee weeks later I woke up and could not see at all. My vision was blurred with my glasses (that I previously only needed for driving or reading). So I made an appointment. I had also lost 43 pounds in five weeks. They repeated the A1C and it was a 14! So they sent me to an endocrinologist two weeks ago. Needless to say I was very nieve and did not know how serious this was. She said my pancreas has shut down and not making insulin. I immediately went to 2000mg a day of Metformin ER, Invokana 300mg, and four shots of insulin a day. I have a few weeks to get it under control Or will be hospitalized. Is there anyone else out there with this extreme case that can give me some pointers? I feel like I am Starving myself and my BS is still all Over the place. They were not kidding about this being a life changing event. They have me scared to death! Thanks in advance for any info.
Sorry you have entered this group. But people with more experience than I can answer your concerns. Wondering if you are not a type 2 , but other type.? Good luck ! Nancy50
I would ask the endocrinologist if she is sure you are a type 2. Sometimes it can be very hard to differentiate between a type 1 and a type 2. Type 2 diabetics are insulin resistant. Type 1 diabetics’ pancreases don’t make any insulin at all. With type 2 diabetes that need insulin there can be a couple of possibilities. A) You are very insulin resistant and your body is not capable of producing insulin in the quantities needed to keep your blood sugars down. B) Your body no longer makes insulin or makes insulin in lesser amounts. C) A combination of both.
It can take some time to bring things down and get things under control. It can take a lot of tweeking in the beginning. The blurred vision is not abnormal, neither was the weight loss. Expect to gain weight. The high glucose means that your cells have not been getting what they need for energy and so your body has been burning muscle and fat (which may sound like a good thing but it isn’t). With the addition of medication your body should now be processing the glucose correctly. As I said before, glucose is used as energy. Just some of it gets used while some gets stored for later use. The “storage space” is limited. When the “storage space” is full then the body coverts it into fat and stores that.
As far as the blurred vision, one possibility is that high glucose can cause fluids to move in and out of the eye. This causes the lens to swell thus blurring your vision. Blurred vision can take several months to improve because it can also be blurred as the swelling goes down too.
I’m not a doctor so be sure to discuss this with your endocrinologist.
It’s a steep learning curve, but I agree with the insulin to get your BG settled.
google LCHF or Keto. I don’t know of a better way to get your BG under control. Just need to watch the insulin dose as you reduce the carbs to not hypo.
I strongly suggest getting autoimmune testing done to see if you could be type 1. Traditionally you should try and focus on getting one part of your day figured out at a time. By “all over the place” what do you mean? This can mean very different things to different people.
Have you seen a diabetes educator yet? Or had any other intensive diabetes education? What is your fasting blood glucose like? What is your diet?
To add onto this I am seeing a dietitian who I suppose they consider a diabetes educator. We spoke about how to take blood samples, eating better, what my diet was currently. Basically what a lot of people here may ask you.
This is what my doctors nurse practitioner did for me and referred me. Since I am Medicare I can see her like…a few times or so a year I believe. I also suggest joining a local diabetes support group if possible.